National Storage Finds a Way with PlanStudio

In 2020, National Storage commenced a search for an innovative solution that could address an issue of inconsistent floor plans across their 200+ sites throughout Australia and New Zealand.  At the time, their business was facing exponential growth and had no way of keeping accurate and consistent records of their building floorplans. Like most businesses at this time, National Storage was facing numerous challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes in customer demands caused them to continue looking into space management solutions while also enabling contactless customer service.

“The goal was to enable customers to refer to an accurate floor plan in order to locate their storage unit without the need for face-to-face interaction, all the while ensuring a customer-centric and accurate experience,”

Aimeé Sibbald, National Storage Operations Project Manager explained.

Following discussions with National Storage, Kris Brown from Locatrix suggested the adoption of Locatrix’s API (Application Programming Interface) integration, which would allow National Storage to add a customisable plan viewer to their website using JavaScript. The SDK (software design kit) manages the loading of plans and allows National Storage to create their own tailored experiences, further enabling National Storage to become more creative with enhancements to the customer experience. Once demonstrated by Kris, National Storage were confident that Locatrix’s PlanStudio Solution would be the best solution to see them as industry leaders in innovation.

Aimeé elaborates,

“The need quickly went from accessing basic map technologies to being able to harness all that could be offered with PlanStudio.  Not only do we get maps of all 200+ of National Storage’s sites, but these maps are all interactive, accurate and most importantly, easily accessed and maintained by National Storage – giving us control over our own IP and allowing us to use the data for countless other purposes, including asset unit management, fire and evacuation maps and wayfinding to storage units.”

As National Storage and Locatrix worked together to meet the requirements of the brief within the constraints of the product capabilities, additional software development work enhanced a wayfinding function for National Storage, helping their customers get to and from their storage units – a mission that can sometimes be difficult at the larger sites.

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“The development of PlanStudio was initially centred around aiding building occupants and emergency services in exiting a building safely. However, National Storage presented a need to expand PlanStudio’s capabilities to include not only wayfinding out of a building but also wayfinding within and throughout a building. This expansion posed a significant challenge but also opened up exciting possibilities".

"The decision to incorporate this feature into the roadmap was a great one. Wayfinding within large, complex buildings like hospitals, schools, and airports is indeed a valuable use case, and it's evident that more and more customers are interested in implementing such solutions. This highlights the importance of listening to your customers and being responsive to their needs.”

John Hummelstad, Locatrix CEO

Now that all their facilities are mapped with PlanStudio, National Storage has a consistent system in place to offer wayfinding functionality, as well as maintaining accuracy in understanding their buildings, down to every single unit – an important detail when mapping space for self-storage purposes.  Thanks to PlanStudio, this accuracy is now guaranteed.

“Unit and centre navigation is a critical factor in this business. PlanStudio’s interactive floor plans make this an effortless process and gives us reassurance we are providing our customers and staff with a much more efficient way of doing so. Not only has PlanStudio helped us offer our customers a better move in experience, but it has enhanced their safety inside and outside business hours.”

Aimeé explained.

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To get all 200+ sites converted to PlanStudio maps, Locatrix’s drafting team’s resources were utilised. The plans submitted by National Storage were a mix of formats, with some plans able to be converted and many required to be drawn from scratch; a functionality only accessed through a product as sophisticated as PlanStudio. In handing over ownership of their maps, Locatrix has also provided the necessary training for National Storage to manage any redesign, retrofit, or traffic management map alterations.

The National Storage project has been a huge step forward and success story for all.

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